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ASTM international standards for monitoring chemical hazards in workplaces.

The health of workers in many industries is at risk through occupational exposure to toxic substances. To estimate workers' exposures, occupational contact with hazardous materials at the job site is typically monitored by sampling and analyzing workplace atmospheres. This is because in occupational settings, inhalation is ordinarily the most likely route of entry of hazardous substances into the body. Dermal contact and ingestion are other potential routes of occupational exposure to chemical agents. Hence, in addition to methods for workplace air monitoring, procedures for measuring surface contaminants in the workplace are also needed. Within ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) International Committee D22 on Air Quality (formerly Sampling and Analysis of Atmospheres), Sub­committee D22.04 on Sampling and Analysis of Workplace Atmospheres produces standards that describe methods to collect and measure chemical hazards in the workplace. This subcommittee has been active for decades, and its members (presently numbering over 50) have developed many needed standards consisting of test methods, practices, and guides. These consensus standards are meant for use by industrial hygienists, chemists, engineers, health physicists, toxicologists, epidemiologists, and myriad other professionals. Experts from private industry, government, and academia have all contributed extensively to the development of standards for workplace contaminant monitoring. Numerous voluntary consensus standards produced by ASTM International Subcommittee D22.04 have been developed based on National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) methods (published in the NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2003-154/ ) and the OSHA Analytical Methods Manual ( http://www.osha.gov/dts/sltc/methods/ ), respectively).